Outbreak

"Outbreak" explores the microbiological sublime, that vast and largely unseen world that exists all around us and inside us made up of countless millions of bacteria. We are all walking microbial colonies; in addition to the 30,000 genes that make up the human body, we also carry 4 million bacterial genes that help our bodies to function in ways that scientists are only now beginning to understand. Inspired by the Human Microbiome Project this piece attempts to play with the formal architecture of the microbial world, revealing its exotic, strange beauty. The domes reference that icon of laboratory equipment, the petri dish, and the separation of elements shows how science progresses through the construction of taxonomies. The outbreak from one dish is a visual metaphor for the limitations of science when faced with the sheer scale and ubiquity of this microbiological habitat.

"Outbreak" is completely hand cut and took 3 months of intensive work to complete. It is booked for exhibition until December 2014. Limited edition laser cuts of specific elements from the composition can be commissioned.